Archers thread #162: ‘This is like talking to Lassie’ – how right you are, Fallon! Discuss The Archers here.

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Thank you, @PseudoBadger, for kicking off this long, long series of Archers threads.

All views on The Archers welcome here! New blood welcomed, and of course we are always delighted to welcome back former or occasional listeners/posters. We don't all agree on all points, although we do mostly try to be civil about it. Most of us are posting tongue in cheek a lot of the time, so don't worry about revealing that you think cowhide-covered walls are a great idea for a cafe with vegan and vegetarian customers, or other unusual views.

Spoilers: not on this thread, please! We don't wait for the omnibus to discuss the weeknight episodes, but we do try our best to avoid cross-contamination from www.mumsnet.com/talk/radio_addicts/4636789-the-archers-spoilers-thread-7-cant-wait-for-702pm-join-us-here, where spoilers are positively welcomed!

For newer listeners, lurkers or those who just have no idea what we're talking about, @DadDadDad has created this useful thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/3557323-For-Archers-fans-a-guide-to-acronyms-on-the-long-running-discussion-threads-and-any-other-meta-thread-questions-you-may-have - BOOP point for him! (See thread for explanation.)

Title comes from one of the better scripted conversations of recent weeks, when Fallon said ”Harrison, this is like talking to Lassie! Just TELL ME”. So true of so many conversations on TA where you just want to shake them and yell 'Just TELL US, and quickly, so you don't get interrupted before you can say the important bit', but of course they rarely do and days pass before the conversation resumes. @TheBell suggested putting it in the title, so thanks for that.

@OverArmour had a great if more obscure idea, paying tribute to a Peter Greenaway film: The Policeman, The Drunk, The Vet and his Lover. That will do very well as a starting point for the new thread. Will Alistair leave? Will Denise tell John she's leaving him? Will Paul learn to be less noisy? Do any of us care?

I do care a little about Harrison and Fallon. I want Harrison to get a grip and realise he needs a paying job more than the captaincy of the cricket team. I don't care at all about Harry but I think he's been brought in purely as a plot device so with any luck we can all forget about him very soon.

Over to you!

I’m confused as to why she announced what she had bought him and what she had for herself - so clunky. Hearing them together I thought she sounded old and Brian sounded a lot younger than 80. I am always surprised how the old in ambridge are so sprightly and career focussed. No one seems to want to wind down and just relax in their old age

the whole convo about Jenny was bizarre and I don’t remember the couples being that close. Definitely redrawing of the past.

the whole bullshit around the orangutan sanctuary. Who is this woman?

she does have the same gravelly voice as Justin. Both make me want to cough

tbf on Justin, if he’s working full time then his time is money and why on earth would Emma expect a freebie from Justin? The scene felt a bit ‘educational’

I believed the orangutan fantasy more than the heart to hearts with Jenny, Miranda was trying very hard to attract Brian it seemed to me.
Justin is doing his bit for the local community by giving his advice to EdnEm or something like that he said, must listen again - a rare thing for me to want to do lately.

Brian is 80. IRL the Miranda actor is married to the Justin actor.

TottersBlanklyIntoBimboCore
(Though my sadly non-compliant memory refuses to recreate all those carefully choreographed Home Farm dinners where she and Miranda shared confidences over the third bottle of red …)

That's because they never happened. Miranda did not live in Ambridge, and did not eat out there willingly. There was one dinner party at Home Farm that she attended, and she was rude and unpleasant throughout and certainly didn't endear herself to Jennifer in the process. Also, the fact that Jennifer's sister was enjoying sex with Miranda's husband would certainly have inhibited Jennifer from making a friend of the woman whose marriage was being threatened: on air, Jennifer found it all wildly embarrassing.

If we are to go by their actors' ages, Lucy Fleming was born on 15th May 1947 (age 76), Simon Williams was born on 16th June 1946 (age 77) and Charles Collingwood was born on 30th May 1943 (age 80).

To me, Justin and Miranda sound about the ages of their actors, as does Brian. Well-preserved "their age", in each case!

I wonder why they've never bothered to insert The Gills.

From a drama perspective, I'd love Brian to link up with Miranda. She has a good radio voice!

It's not relevant that 'Miranda' and 'Justin' are married IRL of course, but 'Miranda''s mother was Celia Johnson and her uncle was Ian Fleming.

NO!!!!!!!!!!! 😱

According to wiki. Lucy Fleming - Wikipedia
Couldn't resist sharing that truly scrumptious tidbit with you.

A side-issue to TA really but it’s a fascinating family tree. Augustus John is nestled somewhere in the branches, as is Jo Grimond, former Liberal Party leader, and through him, H. H. Asquith.

Peter Fleming was a lot more interesting than Ian... And their maternal half-sister was Amaryllis Fleming the cellist, who was Augustus John's child.

Her husband and her daughter drowned on 14 December 1980 in a boating accident on the River Thames

OMG.

Completely a side issue and makes TA seem as dull as ditchwater in comparison.
Sorry.

Whimper. Timmy's fallen down a well. 🐕

We had that post two days ago, didn’t we?

I couldn’t agree more. He’s trying to be the business equivalent of the arch village squire and is just being a pompous stuffy arse.

Just trying to steer the thread away from depressing content.

And Justin's RL first wife (Belinda Carroll) married Oliver (Michael Cochrane).

Small world.

NO!!!

I'm shipping Brian and the pet artist.

Justin was helpful and gave Emma some sound advice. He sounded sincere when he said he hoped the business would be a success. He can be a pompous oaf but on this occasion I thought he came across really well.

I don’t think he really planned to take any money from Emma. He was just making a point that in the ‘real world’ she would have to pay for expert advice. Both Emma and Ed lack any sense of how the business world operates so it’s a useful lesson.

I agree. I don't find Justin particularly pompous. I thought it was rather touching, actually. He gave her real insight and help.

It’ll be Russ, transitioned …

”Call me Rose…”